Costa Rica Earthquake - Image Request

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook Costa Rica on Thursday and we have had some requests for images of the destruction. Does anyone have images of the Costa Rica earthquake that they can upload to Cutcaster? We have had two requests for images of the Costa Rica earthquake in the last two hours and would be great to upload some of these editorial images. There were no reports of injuries or deaths. Thanks again.

Cutcaster year end wrap up- An idea turns into a movement

Cutcaster began 2008 as an optimistic unknown; an innovative idea that was just taking shape and full of potential. Our aim was to develop a dynamic marketplace where buyers could easily find and license fresh and unique user-generated content while content creators worldwide could discover the true value of their work. No one had heard of Cutcaster outside of a handful of people. We had 800 accepted files, fewer than 300 members and I was still trading stocks on Wall Street. At the end of January, I left the stock market to work full time on Cutcaster. What started with a few hundred files blossomed into a community of over 3600 members and 107,393 accepted files on January 1st 2009. (Congrats to both Marburg and Beth Pulsipher for having the closest predictions to our year end total accepted files). What a difference a year makes.

What Happened in 2008 - A few highlights:
1. Buyers outreach program started in mid-September- Email, print and web advertising, Google Adwords campaign, press releases, direct sales calls and email blasts, SEO techniques, joined two affiliate programs, our internal referral program, handwritten introductory letters, onsite Cutcaster demos, participation in buyers’ conferences i.e. Picturehouse, and participating in different forums.
2. Contributor outreach program- Grew from 800 files to over 107,000 by years end. Pretty amazing growth, I’d say, and the quality has been excellent so keep up the great work.
3. Started the year with 300 members and now we are over 3600 members and 1700 members have uploaded a file or more.
4. Numerous site features and enhancements rolled out. We have always been fast to correct things and roll out features that the community needs and things will continue to be like that in 09.
5. New image and vector search algorithm
6. Best customer service in the industry- We roll out the red carpet for everyone.

What to expect in the New Year
1. I’m moving the Cutcaster headquarters to San Francisco at the end of January and you shouldn’t notice any changes except a new address. This is so I can efficiently run Cutcaster and be close to the talent and money that I need to take on our competitors. I’m sad to leave NYC but extremely excited to be on the West Coast.
2. A lot more attention and work on the buyer front i.e. roll out corporate accounts, introduce credit packages and extended licensing, enhanced clipfolders, search algorithm tweaking and re-weighting the results, more direct sales calls, attending more buyer conferences, Cutcaster API’s, promoting more exclusive content on Cutcaster, tiered pricing for different resolution sizes and much more advertising in both print and web.
3. More sales, more data to help you make better decisions, more tutorials to help you know what to shoot and how to shoot it, more image and illustration requests
4. A much faster site

Goals for 2009
1. More sales, more revenue lines for contributors, more ease of use on the site.
2. Surpass 1,000,000 images and vectors
3. Get over 400,000 new images in the marketplace from sources that weren’t in the shallow pool of stock we see today
4. Increase membership to 20,000
5. More fun

Obviously, Cutcaster is a tool to earn money from your content or find outstanding content for the projects you are working on. However, Cutcaster is a community in action and is only as good as our contributors, supporters and buyers. We know we have nothing if we don’t have a strong community and that is why we work tirelessly to best serve our members. A special thank you goes out to Ashley, My family, Justin, Michael B., Zac, Lope, Barbara, Tara, Charley, InSITE, Lita, Dennis, Janie M, Linda, Carolyn, Jeffbeck, Martin, Shaolan, Victoria, Moriya, Dan M, Vasiliy, Jason, the whole Blip.tv team, Gracie, Henrik, Jeff S. and Shawn to name just a few.

There have been more, and I can’t thank you all enough for providing your support and patience as we grow. We know that it is a community in action that accomplishes more than any individual does, no matter how strong they may be. Spread the word, keep up the enthusiasm, and continue to be a part of something from the ground floor.

Here is to a great 2009,

John and the Cutcaster team

New Cutcaster watermark. Better than the old one?

What do you guys think? Here is the old one.



Here is the new one.



Let me know your thoughts.

Top 10 best selling categories of the year

1. people- adults, mature adults, senior citizens

2. business-business tools and concepts

3. objects on white background

4. business people

5. vector graphics and illustrations

6. travel- transportation

7. signs & symbols

8. food

9. sports related

10. architecture & interiors-building exteriors

Thanks for you all your great images and keep up the good work in the new year. We have an exciting year ahead of us at Cutcaster.

Come visit us at Picturehouse

Cutcaster is going to be pitching to hundreds of image buyers in NYC and the surrounding areas at Picturehouse this year on October 29th from 10am to 8pm. Here is a list of image buyers who attended last year. If you are interested in visiting us we will be at booth 219 and will be giving away a free iPhone that day to people who come and meet us. If you want more details check out the Picturehouse webpage here.

Smaller and popular categories we need

Urban & rural scenes – suburbs, playing streetball, playing basketball, mowing lawns playing in the grass, rural scenes

Arts & entertainment – music, taking photos, painting a picture, playing in a rock band

Lifestyle & relationships – families, gatherings, parent/child shots

Arts & entertainment – dancing, out drinking, listening to music with headphones

Industry & work – factories, production facilties

People – mature adults, seniors

Health & beauty – people working out, at a spa, relaxing at the beach, skiing, putting on makeup

Education – any categories you can think of. we are weak in this and need it for upcoming season

Social issues – environment, marches, etc

People – especially of newborns, babies and kids under 5

Illustrations & vector graphics – we are getting ready to have this on the live site so get readddyyy to rummblleeeeee.

Business – any types. can be in office setting, at a business lunch, work at home, call center etc.

Celebrations – weddings, birthdays, Halloween, opening presents

We have been asked for these type of images

Do you have these types of images?

1. youth culture, kids hanging out, kids playing sports or music together, kids at school,
2. families and kids (not too staged they said),
3. active seniors, riding bikes, going for walks, playing sports, enjoying life
4. business and technology and
5. still life

Please upload them or ask questions here if you have any for the buyer. I will make sure they respond with some guidance.

How can I buy stock photos and stock footage at Cutcaster?

Here are 4 Easy steps to help you buy stock photography and stock footage on Cutcaster.

Anyone can buy and all are welcome. Buying stock photography and footage on the Cutcaster website is very simple however some new users have been asking about the best way to buy stock images and videos on Cutcaster. I'll explain a little more.


* Step 1. Create a Free account. That is step number one. The first thing to buy images and stock video from Cutcaster is to create a free account. Simply click here or visit www.cutcaster.com and click on the Join Now button on the Cutcaster homepage. It takes only a few seconds to put in your user name, password, and contact information.

* Step 2. Browse our premium and newly uploaded collection at Cutcaster. We are growing by leaps and bounds and have many exclusives that you cannot find on other stock photo agency sites or stock footage sites.

* Step 3. Now that you have your account, you can add an image or clip of footage to your shopping cart or ClipFolder, which is our version of a lightbox. (I recommend adding the images to the ClipFolder if you are not ready to purchase the photograph or video. You can send these to colleagues or clients.)

* Step 4. Select the images and video that you need and click the checkout button at the top of the screen. The next page will display different image and video files you have chosen. Checking out is a breeze and we accept all major credit cards.


That is it, just 4 easy steps!

If you still have questions please contact John or Victoria at 215-688-2751, call us on skype at johnnywgriffin or email us at john @ Cutcaster.com.

Content our Buyers want

If you have footage, photos, animations or motion graphics similar to the examples below and you own the rights to them, upload the content and help satisfy some of the needs we have come across when reaching out to potential buyers. These topics and niches have been requested by our growing list of buyers.

Footage and photos that we want (in alphabetical order):

Animations: 3D background animations, 3D/2D motion graphics, background for text in DVD projects and menu systems, web graphics, promotional images and characters, etc.

Action Shots: People eating, working, playing, driving; things in motion or transit

Commercials: Spec commercials, pre and post roll ads, 15-30 seconds in length. All subject matter is welcome and will be listed under short film.

Concept Stock: Deep Hidden Meanings (DHM), images that represent emotions

Corporate Footage: Office shots, conference room shots, presentation shots, people in their work environment, etc.

Documentary/Short Films: All issues and topics

Geographic: Video and images of people and places around the world past, present and future; reels of specific locations, domestic and international

Healthcare: Administrative footage, imagery of healthcare providers and staff attending to administrative tasks in hospital/office settings, images of prescriptions such as pills, medicine, etc.

Historical/Archival: Images and video that capture a moment in history, archive footage

Journalism: News worthy images or video content of relevant issues around the world; local, national and international

Photography: Portraits, still-life, abstract, aerial shots, architecture, motion photography, photo journalism, satellite photography, infrared, cityscapes, travel photography

Rare Artifacts: Footage in King Tuts tomb, an archiaelogical digs, findings, etc. The more rare, the more downloads.

Religious/Spiritual: Footage of rituals, festivals, representative imagery, sermons, etc.

Specialty/Niche Footage: For example, firefighting, extreme fighting, extreme weather reels, hard to find captivating footage

Sports: skateboarding, Squash, mountain biking, ping pong, beer pong, soccer, karate, billiards, Championship ceremonies and shots (i.e. the winning shot), etc. Remember you need your releases.

We are building a high definition library and seeking HD or HDV footage or photos for almost any subject. If you have this content our buyers are interested. Please upload it to the marketplace for review.

Do you need a particular image or video? Post your requirements in the Project Request Forum! Cutcaster offers royalty free images, stock photos, stock footage and stock photography for advertising, publishing or web design.

Make Money from your Photos

Has anyone heard of a new service called Photrade. It appears to offer an ad supported photo syndication service that brings photo monetization to a broader audience. Something that we are big believers in here at Cutcaster.

From what I can tell it is a free place to host your images but it can make you money. Its kind of like Flikr meets Mugshots meets Cafepress. We signed up for the side which is currently in closed beta.